The Great Survivors: How Monarchy Made It into the 21st Century by Peter Conradi

Europe’s royals may be gaffe-prone, but they’re surprisingly resilient

I
t was King of Farouk of Egypt who famously remarked in 1948 that, “Soon there
will be only five kings left — the king of England, the king of Spades, the
king of Clubs, the king of Hearts and the king of Diamonds.”

He was right about his own future prospects — he was forced into exile four
years later — but was wrong in thinking that only England would succeed in
retaining its monarchy. Kings and queens may not be thriving as they were in
the first years of the 20th century, when every country in Europe was a
monarchy save France, Switzerland and San Marino, but 10 nations on the
Continent continue to have a political system in which the head of state
owes his or her position to birth alone. There’s even an absolute monarch of
sorts still surviving in Prince Hans-Adam II, who rules over the 62 square
miles